This is the message I get sometimes in my mind when I see #teenagers and #youths becoming terrible citizens and threats to our society.
And that is why I do take my time to understand the kind of home a child is being raised from. Asking questions like,
"Is the child a product of single parenting?"
"Is the father available to listen to the child?"
"Is the mother empowered enough to manage herself not to talk of the whole family". And many more.
Then from this, I get more insights about the predominant issues we are experiencing.
The truth is not hidden. Many children are really facing a lot in their homes.
They have parents who don't care about them and their future.
Some of them don't even know what it takes to nurture a child's potential.
And how will they even know that if they have no knowledge of identifying these potentials?
A lot of children I've really suffered.
Parents are now leading their children to what we call " Self Parenting".
And you hear them say, "That's the age we are", "You've got to learn that yourself", "Junior has no parent, and he's making cool money", "Learn from your friends, I have done my best".
Is such a parent encouraging the child to forget he or she has a parent or encouraging the child to be better?
And that's where some of us get it wrong.
These children knew they could do some things without your permission.
They knew they have the power to decide where they want to go and who they want to meet.
But they still believe they need to be guided. And once you show to care less of them. They start having the urge to do and undo.
How will a parent who finds no offense in telling lies to encourage a child not to do such?
What will a child learn from a mum who never hid her extramarital chats from him or her?
What will a child learn from a father with zero #Emotional Intelligence?
How will a child learn boldness from parents who don't have the courage to correct errors?
They are always scared of engaging in public matters. But have the strength to gossip and bad mouth other people.
Father is a Drug Abuser. Mother is a drug dealer. Then what do you expect from such a child?
What will a child learn from a mother who only discusses the other side of the father to her child? Is she driving out a lesson from it or to shame?
We can go on and on highlighting these points of observations.
.
.
Many social vices are rooted in the homes. The children grow to see strength in them. They feel they've gotten freedom because you don't seem to really care.
Thou, this might not be the case for most of them.
But next time you meet them, don't place a quick tag on them.
Let's identify the cause of these problems and device a means to mitigate the challenges.
We can't eradicate all at once. But little drops of right actions will make a great pool of impacts.
©Afeez Olelekan Saka
#TeensCoach
#ParentingEducationAdvocate
#TeachSDGsAmbassador
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